Start a video call

Select a person from the Hangouts list or search for their name or email address. When you find the person you want, click their name. You can also check multiple people to start a group video call.

Click Video call .

When you're done, click End call .

Other settings for video calls

Add people by name or email address

Anyone in a video call can add more people after the video call starts. Anyone invited to join the video call must have a Google Account.

In the video call window, click the screen.

At the top, click Add people .

Type someone's name or email address.

Click Invite.

Add people by sharing a link

In the video call window, click the screen.

At the top, click Add people Copy link to share .

To invite people to the call, click the link to copy it. Then, paste the link into emails, chats, or somewhere else. To join a call, users will need to sign in. Anyone with the link will be able to join the call.

Change video call options

You can change your video call options during the video call. To see your options, click the screen.

Turn off camera or mute microphone: Click the icons to turn off your camera or mute your microphone.

Settings: At the top, click Settings . You can change settings like your camera, microphone and speaker devices.

Share screen: To share your screen with other people in the video call, click More Share screen.

Fullscreen: To make the video call take up your entire screen, click More Fullscreen.

Send and receive messages in the video call

You can send messages to people in the video call. Messages will appear for a short period.

Click the video call screen

At the bottom, click Chat .

You can only see the message history while you’re in the call. If you leave and rejoin the call, you will not see the previous messages.